U.S. Route 223

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U.S. Route 223

Length:

47.20 mi^[1] (75.96 km)

Formed:

1930^[1]

South end:

US 23/SR 51/SR 184 in Sylvania, OH

North end:

US 127 in northwestern Lenawee County, MI

United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 223 is a short, diagonal (northwest to southeast) highway lying in Michigan and Ohio, though the Ohio section is completely concurrent with US 23. It connects US 127 to and from the north (Jackson, Michigan) and US 23 to and from the south (Toledo, Ohio). Although its signed destinations are Jackson, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio, it never reached Jackson, instead feeding into US 127 to and from the north; it no longer reaches Toledo, Ohio, instead feeding the freeway system of greater Toledo through US 23, itself a freeway.

1 Route description
2 History
3 BUS US 223
- 3.1 Route description
- 3.2 Historical notes
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Route description

A business route is now the designation for the old US 223, some of it coinciding with M-52, through Adrian after a bypass was built on the south and west sides of Adrian, but the bypass is largely a two-lane undivided route unsuited to any improvement to Interstate standards; this bypass is designated US 223.

Proposals for aligning an Interstate 73 freeway parallel to all or part of US 223 led to strong political resistance that caused the Michigan Department of Transportation to abandon any plans for improvement, even though the section east of Adrian is a substandard highway for the traffic that it carries with the hazard of an oblique railroad grade crossing.

Throughout its routing, except for the US 23 concurrency, it is a surface road undivided except for a short segment of divided highway at the intersection of US 223 and BUS US 223 north and west of Adrian.

[edit] History

In 1977 Michigan realigned a segment of this highway (onto the former M-151) so that it would intersect US 23 at a more northerly interchange north of the Michigan-Ohio state line, and thus a concurrency with US 23 was added. Ohio soon decommissioned the old road south of the concurrency in favor of State Route 51, an extension of an existing route. US 223 was originally part of US 127, and also carried a Route 112 designation on the stretch of the road in Ohio.

[edit] BUS US 223

U.S. Route 223 Business
Location	Adrian, Michigan
Commissioned	1956-03-26^[2]

U.S. Highway 223 Business Route (BUS US 223) is a business route running through downtown Adrian, in the United States. It is also currently the highest numbered and signed business routing in the state of Michigan. Both BS I-375 and Capitol Loop currently exist. BS I-375 is not signed and the Capitol Loop, while based on I-496 does not use that number. The former BS I-696 has been deleted, leaving BUS US 223 with the highest posted number of any business routing in the state.

[edit] Route description

In the current routing, BUS US 223 follows M-52/Adrian Hwy. and a former route of US 223 through downtown. The western terminus of BUS US 223 is at US 223 at an intersection northwest of downtown Adrian. The eastern terminus is at US 223 at an intersection with BUS US 223/M-52 near downtown Adrian.

[edit] Historical notes

The current routing of BUS US 223 marks the second time the designation has been used in the Adrian area. The first was created on 1942-01-28 when the first bypass of Adrian was constructed. This first bypass was built along Cadmus Rd. at Treat Hwy. west to M-52/Adrian Hwy. US 223 then runs along M-52 to connect with the previous routing. BUS US 223 is designated along Church, Center, Beecher and Treat streets, the former routing of US 223 through downtown. This incarnation of BUS US 223 would survive until 1956-03-26 when another new bypass of Adrian is built. The first BUS US 223 was deleted to allow the designation to be used on the routing of the first US 223 bypass. This routing basically marks the current alignment of BUS US 223.